Momijigari
by jeffs
Summary: Akari has something she wants Ryouga to do.... Ryouga & Akari and Ranma & Akane WAFFhumor


Momijigari  
  
disclaimer All the characters in this story belong to Takahashi Rumiko and I have no right to use them.  
  
This takes place after vol 38 of the manga.   
  
Momijigari: an excursion into the mountains to view fall colors. To view the trees as the leaves change colors. During Autumn, news programs show maps indicating where the fall color is at its best. Going to view the fall colors is a popular excursion. My research for this and where I got the word "momijigari" from is: "Learning to Bow: Inside the Heart of Japan" by Bruce S Feiler. Chapter 6 is where the inspiration for some of this story comes from. It is an autobiographic book about an american english teacher's year in Japan. He taught english at the Jr High level.   
  
Hopefully I'm not making a mistake using "momijigari". If I am making a mistake could someone please correct me. thank you This story takes place during the height of the fall color viewing season.  
  
____________________________________________________   
  
Momijigari by jeff shelton   
  
Unryü farmhouse  
  
"Akari, the mail's here!" Akari's grandfather yells.   
  
"Coming, Grandfather!" Akari replies, from where she tends to Katsunishiki, her sumo pig.   
  
"Looks like you've got some more photos from Tendo Nabiki, and a letter from Hibiki Ryouga, today." He smiles as he hands her the mail.   
  
"A letter from Ryouga!" she exclaims with joy. She quickly rips open the letter and reads it. She looks at her grandfather and says, "He'll be here soon. The letter says he was going to be here a week ago." She puts the letter in her blouse, for safe keeping, until she can store it where she has all the other letters Ryouga has ever sent her.   
  
She slowly and carefully opens the packet from Nabiki. It contains several large photos of Ryouga and several more of P-chan, along with a bill. Akari's grandfather looks at her while she gazes worshipfully at the pictures. "You really like the boy, don't you?"   
  
"Grandfather, how could you think I only like Ryouga! I love Ryouga and I know he loves me." She glares at her grandfather.   
  
"Well, I not going to argue with that look." Akari goes back to looking at the photos. "Hmmm," He mumbles as he thinks. "I'm going to get something, I'll be right back, Akari." He leaves and goes to his room. Akari is unaware of what her grandfather has said or is doing.   
  
A few minutes later he returns carrying a small book. "Ummm, Akari, can I have your attention?" He says. Akari looks at her grandfather. "This is your Grandmother's diary. I think she would like you to have it." He hands it to her. "I've marked a special passage in it," he smiles as he walks off.   
  
Akari opens the diary and begins to read. After a couple of minutes a smile appears on her face. It grows larger. She finishes the passage, closes the book, and hugs it to her chest. "Thank you, Grandmother," she whispers.   
  
The next day in the woods outside the Unryü farmhouse.   
  
"Where I am?!" yells Hibiki Ryouga.   
  
Akari, sitting on top of Katsunishiki, yells, "Right in front of me!"   
  
"A-akari! I've found you!" he says as he turns quickly around.   
  
"I was just going to start dinner. Do you want to stay for dinner, Ryouga?"   
  
"Y-yes."   
  
"Follow me, closely." Ten minutes later at the farmhouse. "Now, Ryouga, stay in the living room, ok. I've got to get something from my room and I'll be right back. Then I'll start on dinner," Akari says. She goes to her room. She comes back in a few minutes with her grandmother's diary.   
  
"Ryouga, I marked a special passage in this book. I want you to read it and follow its directions, please," she says. She hands him the book. She holds his hands together in hers as she gently says, "Please, do what it says." She looks him in the eyes as she pleads with him.   
  
She goes into the kitchen to make dinner. Ryouga opens the book, takes out the bookmark and starts to read the diary. After a couple of minutes he stops and looks at the bookmark. It is a map of Nikko National Park in the mountains of Japan. 'S-she w-w-ants me to-oo?? I can't. No, I can. No, I can't,' he desperately thinks.   
  
"Aaarrrggghhh!" he yells after a couple minutes of indecision.   
  
"Ryouga, are you alright?" Akari says from the kitchen. She goes to the door and looks into the living room.   
  
Ryouga is gone. A Ryouga shaped hole in the wall shows where he went through it. The diary and the map are gone. "I wish he could have stayed for dinner," she sighs. She smiles, "At least I know, he wants to do it," she says.   
  
'Leaving so early so he can make sure he is on time. And he has two weeks before the date on the map, too. Still, he is correct you have to start planning and preparing for something like this as early as possible,' she thinks.   
  
"A horrible thought. What if, even with him trying this hard, he still gets lost and doesn't get there on time? I've got to do everything I can do to make sure he gets there when he's supposed too," she says, talking to herself. She goes over the phone and dials a number.   
  
"Hello, Tendo residence," Tendo Kasumi answers the phone.   
  
"This is Unryü Akari. Could I speak to Tendo Akane, please?"   
  
"Of course, I'll get her."   
  
"Hi! Akari, this is Akane."   
  
"I need to talk to you about Ryouga," Akari begins to explain.   
  
They talk.   
  
**** A week later in Nerima.   
  
In a clothing store. Akane holds up a green dress and says to Ranma, "I'm going to try this on, I'll be right back." She goes into a dressing room.   
  
'Mom told me I had to come and help Akane shop but why does it have to be dresses? I've always hated shopping,' Ranma thinks. Bored and irritated Ranma looks around the shop trying to find something to occupy him.   
  
'I'm glad Auntie convinced Ranma to help me. The dresses he wears as a girl always looks good. His fashion sense is better than most boys,' she thinks putting on the dress. She blushes, 'I'm just not going to take him lingerie shopping like she suggested.'   
  
'Oh man, oh man, I just thought of something. What if I say I like the dress, but she doesn't. I'm going to be in trouble. But if I say I hate the dress, and she likes it... I'm in trouble,' Ranma thinks. He really starts looking around now, looking for something, anything to get him out of this.   
  
He smiles, 'I can tell her that I saw P-chan and went after him. She might get angry at me for leaving, but trying to be nice to P-chan will cause her to forgive me.' He runs out of the store.  
  
"Ranma, What do you think about this..." Akane says as she leaves the dressing room. She stops when she sees Ranma isn't in sight.   
  
"Ranma! Where are you?"   
  
"He just left, ma'am," the sales clerk tells her.   
  
"Grr, when I find him..." Akane growls. She quickly changes clothes and goes after Ranma.   
  
A few minutes later. Hibiki Ryouga leaves a small shop. He gets out a map and starts down the street.   
  
'Ryouga's a life saver,' Ranma thinks seeing him. 'Now when Akane finds me I can tell her the truth.'   
  
"P-chan! Where are you trying to go? Hokkaido?" Ranma says as he appears. He stands on Ryouga's head looking down at him.   
  
"Get off!" Ryouga yells as he takes a swipe at Ranma. Ranma jumps down and lands a few feet away. "I'm not going to Hokkaido. I'm going to Nikko National Park." Under his breath he continues, "As soon as I can find it." Ryouga starts walking again, in the wrong direction.   
  
"You're going the wrong way, you idiot," Ranma says as he takes the map. "Why do you want to go there anyway? Special Training?" He looks at the map.   
  
"Give that back, Ranma!" Ryouga yells as he lunges for the map. Ranma easily dodges Ryouga's attack and starts to tease Ryouga with the map. He uses his superior speed to stay out of Ryouga's reach. After a couple of swipes, Ryouga recognizes Ranma's not going to give him the map and he stops.   
  
"I'll find it on my own, then," he says as he walks off. "Hey! I was just playing," Ranma says, "here," He hands the map back to Ryouga. "What's so special?"   
  
"I've got to get there in a couple of days so..." Ryouga's voice trails off since he decides he does not want to tell Ranma why he was going to Nikko Park.   
  
"So what?"   
  
'I wouldn't tell him about Akari. It's just too... I know!' Ryouga thinks.   
  
"For... for special training, like you said, Ranma. I found this weird old man who's going to teach me a new technique. So I can come back here and beat you, once and for all." Ryouga looks at the map and starts walking.   
  
"Once I learn it, I'll be back," he says in his best Schwarzenegger impression.   
  
"Hmmm." Ranma runs past Ryouga and grabs the map. "Then if I take the map and get there first, I'll learn it before you. Thanks!" he says as he runs away.   
  
Ryouga quickly loses sight of Ranma. "Curse you, Saotome Ranma! Bring me back my map!!" Ryouga yells.   
  
"What did Ranma do this time, Ryouga?" Tendo Akane asks as she runs up behind Ryouga.   
  
"A-akane, w-what are you doing here?" a surprised Ryouga stammers.   
  
"I've been chasing Ranma. Trying to get him to help me shop for some new clothes," Akane sighs disgustedly.   
  
'I wanted him to tell me what dress he likes me in and the idiot won't tell me. So he runs away,' she thinks.   
  
"Well, Ryouga, what did Ranma do this time?" Akane asks again.   
  
"He stole my map to Nikko National Park, that no good, low down, dirty thief!" Ryouga yells.   
  
"Nikko National Park? Where you and Akari are supposed to meet next week?"   
  
"Y-y-yes? Ho-how did you know?"   
  
"She called and told me. She asked me if I found you to help you get there." Akane smiles, and continues, "Come on, I'll take you home. Then, we'll get my camping gear and then I'll show you the way, OK?"   
  
She grabs Ryouga's hand and starts to drags him home. 'Akane, you can take me anywhere,' Ryouga thinks.   
  
The Tendo residence later.   
  
Akane with the phone in her hand talks to Akari. She has a map she just bought in her hand. "Ok, Akari. I've got the spot marked. I promise you he'll be there and on time too." While she talks on the phone,   
  
Genma listens to her. He is reading the diary he borrowed from Ryouga's backpack, while Ryouga is cleaning up. He smiles and thinks, 'I'll put this back, and then talk to Tendo. I've got a plan."   
  
****  
  
A few days later in the woods at the edge of Nikko National Park.   
  
Akane and Ryouga are camping out. It's midnight and Ryouga throws a small log on the low fire. Akane is sleeping. In his other hand he holds a small box. "Tomorrow, Akari and I will, will ..." as his nose starts to bleed, he stops speaking to himself.   
  
'I've got to stop that!' he thinks as he wipes the blood off his face. 'If I can't think about Akari without bleeding, how will I do it tomorrow?'   
  
"I promise you, Akari," he says to the box in his hand. "That you are the only woman for me. Not even Akane will cause me to forget that. I will not any other woman lead me around."   
  
'Like Ranma in his disguises does,' he thinks. He looks at Akane. Her normal twisting and turning in her sleep is starting.   
  
"A-akane, I, I, when I think about you, I just don't feel the same way I feel about Akari. I can think about having you place me on your bosom, and my nose doesn't bleed," Ryouga says to the sleeping Akane.   
  
A small tendril of blood comes from his nose. 'Ok, so, maybe I do, but it's not like I do when I think about Akari doing the same thing,' he thinks as he touches his nose.   
  
"Damn it, the thought of Ranma making you unhappy still hurts though. Why should it hurt, if I'm going to make Akari a complete woman tomorrow? I'm not going to be doing the same thing with you, Akane. So why does the thought of Ranma breaking your heart, bug me some much?" he asks her.   
  
'I feel protective of Akane, like, like... I KNOW, like she was my younger sister. I wouldn't want my younger sister to be engaged to Ranma. So that's why I don't like the idea of Ranma hurting her.' He smiles as he finally has come up with a solution to a problem that has been bugging him ever since before the failed wedding. He gets up, puts the small box in his pants pocket and goes over to Akane.   
  
He kneels down beside her and picks up Akane's right hand. "I promise, Akane, to always look after you and protect you from anybody. Just like an older brother would do for his younger sister."   
  
As he puts down her hand, Akane wakes up. "Pervert!" she yells as slaps Ryouga.   
  
"A-akane, it's not what you think!" he says apologetically. He quickly thinks and says, "I just saw a bug on you and was brushing it off."   
  
"Oh, sorry, Ryouga," she blushes from embarrassment. "Just jumped to the wrong conclusion, it won't happen again, sorry."   
  
"It's ok, Akane. I think I can go to sleep now," he says as he goes to his sleeping bag.   
  
****  
  
The next day at Nikko National Park. Late afternoon.   
  
Ryouga and Akane walk up a trail. Ryouga wearing his standard clothes. Akane wears her hiking gear with backpack. The wind blowing through the trees above them shakes leaves from the trees as they hike past.   
  
They reach the top of a mountain and look down on the valley below. The trees covering the mountainside and the valley below are in full fall color. The reds, yellows, greens, oranges, gold leaves sway with the wind. The clouds, as they cover and uncover the sun, cast their own shadows over the scene as well. A beautiful partly cloudy fall day is almost over.   
  
"We're here, Ryouga." She smiles at him. "And we're early."   
  
He smiles back at Akane. "U-um, Akane, I-I want to..." Ryouga begins.   
  
"Say, Ryouga, where is this weird old man you mentioned?" Ranma says while he jumps out of a nearby maple tree and approaches Ryouga and Akane. "I've been here for days and all the old men I've talked to didn't know a thing."   
  
"Ranma! Die!" Ryouga yells as he attacks Ranma. "You stole my map!"   
  
"Lead me to that old man and you can have it back!" Ranma yells back. He heads off into the woods. Ryouga starts chasing him.   
  
"Ryouga! Come back here! We're already where you need to be!" Akane yells trying to stop Ryouga, but it is too late. She goes after the two boys. Once in the woods Ryouga quickly loses sight of Ranma and gets lost looking for him.   
  
Akane sees Ranma up in a tree. "Get down here!" she yells. Ranma jumps down and goes to her.   
  
"I was just trying to find Ryouga. I'm going to get him to show me where that old man is."   
  
"What old man? Neither Ryouga or Akari ever said that Akari's Grandfather would be here."   
  
"The old man that was going to teach Ryouga a new special technique. What's Akari's grandfather have to do with it? Was that who he was going to met? Nah, he would've just gone to see Akari then, not come here."   
  
"What new technique? Where did this come from? Ryouga was coming here for a date with Akari, not to learn a new technique," Akane says.   
  
"A date?" Ranma begins to say then continues, "He said that this was a map to..."   
  
"Ranma before you stole that map you could have asked him what it was for!"   
  
"I did, Akane! He told me about a special technique. But I can understand him not wanting anybody knowing about a date. I wouldn't want anybody to know if we were going on a date."   
  
Akane grabs Ranma's shirt and pulls him toward her. "Before I get angry, Ranma, explain that," Akane says.   
  
"Well, I mean, you know," Ranma begins. He grabs his pig tail and looks around seeing if anybody is watching. "Look around, Akane, is anybody watching?"   
  
"What's that got to do with a date?" Akane asks as she refuses to look around.   
  
"If we were on a real date, right now, how many people would be watching? I wouldn't want people to follow us."   
  
"So there wouldn't be any interference," Akane's voice loses its angry tone and she lets go of Ranma's shirt.   
  
"Now what are we going to do about Ryouga? He's lost and he needs to be here when Akari shows up."   
  
"He's got a date with Akari, here?" Ranma muses. "Good for him. OK, we spilt up, so we can find him faster."   
  
****  
  
After searching for a while, Akane finds Ryouga's backpack in a small stream. She pulls it out. "Ryouga! Where are you!" She yells. When she sets the backpack down a small rivulet of water come out of the backpack.   
  
'I'd better take everything out and make sure nothing has been damaged by the water. I wonder why Ryouga left it in that brook?' she thinks as she opens the backpack. The water didn't hurt anything. This sort of thing has happened far too often for Ryouga to be unprepared. All his cooking utensils are rustproof and the small gas stove is waterproof. His wet clothing Akane unfolds so they can dry.   
  
She also sees a waterproof pouch in the backpack. She looks around to see if anybody is watching. She doesn't see anyone. She opens the pouch, and a bunch of objects fall out. A matchbook, some letters with Akari's name on them, some other things, plus the diary hit the ground. Akane looks around again. Nothing.   
  
'I shouldn't look, but Ryouga has been very nervous lately. Whenever I tried to talk to him about Akari, his stuttering became so bad, he couldn't talk. Maybe this will tell me why. I saw him take this out and read it several times on the way here,' she thinks as she picks up the diary. She opens and begins to read the diary. It opens at a heavily read passage.   
  
After a couple of minutes Akane turns bright red from embarrassment and closes the diary. She carefully puts everything back in the pouch. As she puts the pouch back in the backpack, a voice surprises her.   
  
"Hey, Akane! You found his backpack," Ranma says as he approaches her.   
  
"Argh!" Akane yells as she quickly turns around and swings the backpack at Ranma. "Don't scare me like that!" she says after she misses him.   
  
"Scare you?" He wonders why.   
  
"Never mind, Ranma." She puts the backpack down. "Why are you here instead of looking for him?"   
  
"I heard your yell and thought you found him. It looks like I was wrong. Oh well, I'll start looking again," he says as he starts to walk away. "Oh, by the way, Ryouga might like it if you go ahead and start his stove and put on some boiling water," Ranma pauses then continues. "Also, I thought I saw P-chan, so watch for him too."   
  
"If you saw P-chan, why didn't you pick him up?"   
  
"Because you just yelled for Ryouga and I came here instead." He goes behind a tree.   
  
"Next time, pick P-chan up!" Akane yells after Ranma. Akane starts the small stove and puts a pot of water on it.   
  
'Should I stay here? No, I need to go looking for Ryouga. I brushed all the leaves away, so there shouldn't be any real fire hazard. I'll just come back and check here every so often,' she thinks as she starts to look for Ryouga.   
  
****  
  
As soon as she leaves, Ranma comes out from behind a tree. "What was so interesting in that book, I wonder?" he says as he goes over and opens the backpack up. He starts to read the book. He turns bright red and says, "You sly pig, Ryouga, so that's why." He puts the book back.   
  
'Ok, he fell in the stream, so he should be downstream,' he thinks. After a couple of minutes of looking, Ranma finds Ryouga's clothes. A small box falls out of the pants when he picks them up. He picks it up and opens it. He closes the box instantly.   
  
"He really means it," he says in awe. "He'll never do it. He'll bleed to death before he finishes," he says to himself. He puts the box in his pocket and goes back to the clearing where Ryouga's backpack is.   
  
'Sooner or later he'll show up there and he'll want these,' he thinks.   
  
****  
  
"P-chan, I found you!" Akane cries joyfully as she picks up her pet. "You're wet and cold. I wonder what happened?" she says to him. She takes a towel out of her backpack and dries him off.   
  
She places P-chan under her blouse to warm him up. 'Akane,' Ryouga thinks as his snout rests on her breast. 'This is so...'   
  
"You wouldn't happen to know where Ryouga is, would you, P-chan?" she says to P-chan. P-chan picks his snout up and looks at her with frightened eyes. "You couldn't tell me, even if you knew," she sighs and continues, "I just want to find Ryouga and help him. You know Akari's one lucky girl, P-chan. Ryouga's such a better gentleman than Ranma is," she says musingly.   
  
P-chan is paying very close attention to what she is saying. "I don't think Ranma will ever do what Ryouga is going to. I think, no, I know, he's afraid too," she smiles at P-chan. "He says he's only afraid of cats, buts he's far more terrified of what Ryouga has planned than any cat."   
  
'I ought to know, I was afraid of it too. But, now, after almost dying... I'm not, or at least I hope am not," she thinks.   
  
After a few seconds of silence she begins to whisper to P-chan. "You know, P-chan, when I see Ryouga, I think I will tell him something, do want to know what?" she asks her pet.   
  
P-chan nods his head vigorously.   
  
"Ok, I'll practice it with you so I can say it correctly with Ryouga," she pauses and thinks for a second.   
  
"Ryouga wants to beat Ranma. He needs to go ahead and do what Akari wants. That way, even if by some miracle Ranma does it later, Ryouga can always say he did it first. It would be something Ranma could never take away. Do you think that is any good, P-chan?" she asks.   
  
P-chan begins to cry. 'Akari! I'm sorry! I forgot the promise I made last night. I've cheated on you! I've got to go and find Akari, no matter how nice this is!' he thinks.   
  
P-chan starts to twist and turn trying to get out of Akane's grasp.   
  
"P-chan! What's wrong?" Akane wonders as she tries to control her pet. After several seconds of struggling with P-chan, she put him down. "I don't know what's wrong, P-chan? You're never hated being held before," she says.   
  
'I'm sorry, Akane, but. Akari... I'm coming!' Ryouga thinks as he runs away from Akane.   
  
"P-chan!" Akane cries as she follows him. P-chan runs under a large bush and she loses sight of him. 'What happened?' she thinks.   
  
****  
  
P-chan comes running out from behind a tree as Ranma lays out the clothes he located earlier next to Ryouga's backpack. "So, there you are, Ryouga. You better change quickly. I saw Akari earlier when I was looking for you," he says to P-chan. Ryouga quickly uses the hot water and dresses.   
  
"Where is she?" Ryouga asks. He goes over to Ranma and says, "You'd better take me to her, or I will tell people a secret that Akane just told me." He threateningly grabs Ranma by his shirt as he speaks.   
  
"Hey, I was going to lead you there anyways, no need to get violent about it, Ryouga," Ranma says. Then his eyes harden and he continues, "What was that secret? P-chan?"   
  
"Lead me to Akari and I will tell you later," Ryouga says with a nasty smile on his face.   
  
"Ggrrr," Ranma growls, "Only because I like Akari. Otherwise I'd beat it out of you now. But you showing up all beat up, just wouldn't be fair to her." Ranma threateningly grabs Ryouga's shirt as he speaks.   
  
Akane sees Ranma and Ryouga standing very close to each other, grabbing each others shirts when she enters the clearing. "STOP FIGHTING!" Akane yells as she runs up. "You two should be ashamed of yourselves. Today, of all days, fighting," she says, exacerbated at both of them.   
  
They let go of each other.   
  
"Akane," Ryouga begins, but Ranma starts talking at the same time.   
  
"Akane, this isn't what you think!" a flustered Ranma says.   
  
"What I think, doesn't matter right now. What matters is that Ryouga needs to get to where Akari is waiting, not fighting you, Ranma," she says in a stern voice. "Come on, Ryouga, I'll lead you," she says to Ryouga.   
  
She grabs his hand to starts to pull him to where Akari is at. 'I was going to tell Ryouga what I told P-chan, but with Ranma here, I can't. He'd interrupt and ruin what I would be trying to tell Ryouga,' she thinks.   
  
'Akane, I...I've been too dependant on you, and your generosity. With this decision, I need to be independant of you. So I need to find Akari on my own,' he thinks.   
  
Ryouga stops and removes his hand from Akane's grasp.   
  
"I'll find her myself, Akane," he says to her.   
  
"You've sure, Ryouga?" Akane asks. Ryouga starts to walk away, but after he gets three or four meters away he stops. He turns around and looks at Akane and Ranma. A question forms in his eyes.   
  
"Saotome Ranma, would you be kind enough to escort me to my friend, Unryü Akari," Akane says holding out her arm for Ranma to slip his hand around it.   
  
"Of course, Tendo Akane, I'm always glad to help a friend," he says putting his hand around Akane's arm. They walk arm in arm to where Akari is waiting. They can hear the crunch of the leaves behind them.   
  
"He's following," Ranma whispers.   
  
"Good," Akane whispers.   
  
They go back to the top of the mountain. With the setting sun behind her Ryouga sees Akari. The clouds behind her look like a dragon, highlighted by the setting sun. He passes Ranma and Akane as he runs toward Akari.   
  
"Akari! I'm here!" Ryouga yells.   
  
"Ryouga!" Akari yells back as she waves.   
  
"This is so romantic, Ranma, don't you think?" Akane looks at Ryouga running toward Akari.   
  
"Huh? Ye... Oops, almost forgot something," Ranma says as he takes out the small box he found in Ryouga's pants.   
  
As he throws it to Ryouga he yells, "Ryouga! Catch it!"   
  
Ryouga stops and reflexively catches the box. "Huh?" he says. He looks at the box. "I'm going to kill you for this!" he yells as he stops and starts to run back to Ranma.   
  
"Ryouga!" Akari yells from behind him. Ryouga stops, looks at Akari. Looks at Ranma,   
  
"This Friday at the Dojo," he growls at Ranma. "You will pay for stealing this." He shakes the box at Ranma. Then he turns and runs to Akari.   
  
Ranma smiles, "You know, Akane, I thought there for a second he was going to blow it with Akari. It's a good thing I remembered I had that, otherwise he's would've been real embarrassed in a few minutes." He now turns to Akane.   
  
Akane's fiery Battle Aura engulfs him as she yells at him, "YOU STOLE RYOUGA'S ENGAGEMENT RING!!"   
  
Ranma's chin intercepts Akane's fist as her uppercut sends him flying into the woods. Akane chases after him.   
  
****   
  
Akari wearing a green mini-skirt, a white silk blouse, a blue scarf, and one of her wide-brimmed hats runs into Ryouga's arms.   
  
"Akari!"   
  
"Ryouga!"   
  
They embrace each other. Ryouga reluctantly lets go of her. His face shines a bright red as he clears his throat, and swallows. "A-akari... I,I... the sunset is so beautiful, but, ... but not as beautiful as..."   
  
"Me," Akari says helping him out.   
  
"Y-Yes." Ryouga's arm slowly raises the box. He manfully ignores the trail of blood flowing from his nose. Ryouga goes to one knee and slowly kneels before Akari.   
  
"A-A-akari, W-wo-would y-y..." She takes the box from him and opens it up. A ring set with a large green diamond-like stone is in the box.   
  
She swallows. "Is this for me?"   
  
Ryouga, in the hardest thing he's ever done, slowly nods his head, yes.   
  
"YES!! RYOUGA!!" Akari cries as she goes down and embraces Ryouga. They kiss.   
  
Unfortunately, after a couple of seconds Ryouga collapses from blood loss. As she holds up Ryouga, Akari quietly says, "We're definitely going to have to work on your endurance, lover. Luckily Grandmother's diary, in addition to telling me how she was proposed to, also has some very, very, nice tips for the wedding night." She smiles and kisses the unconscious Ryouga.   
  
'I got my wish, to be proposed to the same way my grandmother was,' she joyfully thinks. 'Now to get him to agree to a wedding date. Hopefully when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom, like mother's wedding.'   
  
****  
  
The end   
  
****  
  
Epilog 1 Akari and Ryouga   
  
As Ryouga and Akari go down from the mountain the next morning, Akari says, "Ryouga, what is the stone in the ring?"   
  
"I found it in a very, very cold cave. The bigger stones in the cave actually stopped my Baukusai Tenketsu special attack. I thought that was strange and picked up a few of the smaller pieces. When I showed a piece to Cologne she told me it was ozmidine. She told me to go to this weird old jeweler. He, I don't know how, shaped and set the stone in the ring."   
  
Ryouga also thinks, 'I was coming out of his shop when Ranma stole my map. I've got to remember to go back and give him some more ozmidine, next time I can find that cave again.' (I wonder how many people will catch the reference. It is not anime/manga related. Think SF novel.)   
  
****  
  
epilog 2 Akane and Ranma   
  
They are walking into the clearing where they left Ryouga's backpack. "I was just making sure Ryouga didn't lose it. That's why I had the ring, Akane," Ranma pleads to Akane.   
  
"Grr, All right, I believe you," she says. "`Cause if you did steal it, you wouldn't have thrown it to him without a fight."   
  
The clouds moved off as the sun set so the full harvest moon's bright light illuminates the clearing. It's a beautiful early evening fall night.   
  
"Ranma?"   
  
"Yeah?"   
  
"Remember what I said about this being a beautiful setting?"   
  
"Yeah," Ranma says as he looks around. "It's nice. If you're into such wimpy things."   
  
"Grrr. And here I was hoping Ryouga's proposing to Akari might have gotten to you. I see I was right, Ryouga will beat you and propose properly to a girl before you will."   
  
"Ryouga beat me? Never! Not even with that!" Ranma says.   
  
"Prove it," Akane challenges. Ranma looks at Akane. Her confidence shining through as she stands there, obviously not believing Ranma will go through with it.   
  
"You know, the way Ryouga stutters when he's with a girl, I bet he hasn't done it yet," Ranma muses. He smiles, turns around and starts to run toward where Ryouga and Akari are at. Akane's hand instantly reaches out and grabs Ranma's pigtail and yanks Ranma's head back.   
  
"If you break up those two. I'll HURT you!" she yells in Ranma's ear. She lets go of him. Ranma reaches back and massages the hair at the back of his head.   
  
"Oww! That hurt, Akane." Akane angrily crosses her arms in front of her. "Well, what are you going to do?"   
  
Ranma clears his throat and swallows. He then slowly kneels and goes to one knee. Akane's face loses it's angry look and she smiles. She looks around, she wants to remember everything about tonight, forever.   
  
"A-Akane..." Ranma begins. The leaves on a large shrub start to move. The movement of the shifting leaves catches Akane's eyes. She sees Genma shove a camcorder out from behind the shrub. The bright moonlight also reflects off the lens of the camera Soun is holding. Akane's face turns savagely furious. She bends down and picks up Ryouga's backpack. She throws it at the shrub. Soun and Genma jump out.   
  
She charges them yelling, "Damn you! SPYING ON US!"   
  
"Phew..." Ranma whispers.   
  
A hospital room. The next day.   
  
Soun and Genma are in full body casts.   
  
Soun says to Genma, "I thought you said, if we made sure the Hibiki boy proposed your son would do the same."   
  
"Next time we make sure they can't see us."   
  
The end for real.   
  
Authors notes. URL for those who might want some more info on Nikko National Park. It has a couple a pictures which I used as inspiration. http://www.japan.co.jp/~toypage/ click on Nikko   
  
This didn't quite come out the way I had originally planned. I like how it did come out, but the original draft had less comedy. The emphasis on Akane and Ranma, not Akari and Ryouga: I wanted to see how long I could delay saying that this was a Ryouga proposes story. This meant I could not use Ryouga's or Akari POV. Lack of serious thoughts about marriage and the problems Akari and Ryouga might have. This was supposed to be WAFF. Hard to do that and include a lot of hard problem solving. Or at least I think it is. Ryouga and the quickness of his decision to ask Akari to marry him. This could be to fast for him. shrug I'm influenced to a degree by how aggressive Ryouga became during the date with Akane in the Shampoo's Soap story, once he decided she did like him. With Akari showing she wanted this to occur, that caused Ryouga's objections to proposing to her to vanish. Akari and her forcefulness. If people can write about a forceful Kasumi. Writing a forceful Akari should be a lot easier. I had thought about having Shampoo and Ukyo show up and get in a fight with Akane and Ranma. They will not like Ryouga and Akari getting together. Without Ryouga as a good second choice, Akane might wise up and start to like Ranma. Ranma and Akane would fight them to prevent them from interrupting Akari and Ryouga. I decided against it, since I wanted this to be WAFF and funny. A serious fight would not do for the story I was trying to write.   
  
Ozmidine is a fictional mineral. It's hardness is 14 on the Mohs scale. (diamond is 10) And C&C will be read and answered.   
  
Thank you for reading this far.   
  
thank you   
  
jeff shelton   
  
jws1@webtv.net 


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